It was one of the largest audiences I can remember at an Ontario City Council meeting, with nearly every seat occupied and at least 50 people standing in the back. Someone who was saving seats in the front row offered me one.

Ninety minutes of public comment? My first impulse was to bound out of my seat and head for the exit in protest.

Well, it wasn’t as bad as I feared. But it was pretty bad.

This was the last council meeting before the Nov. 4 election in which three incumbents — Paul Leon, Jim Bowman and Alan Wapner — are up for re-election. They’re opposed by Councilman Paul Vincent Avila, who’s running for mayor; Rudy Favila, an ex-councilman who’s been out of office for 18 years; Reyna Machado, a businesswoman; Yolanda Garcia, a business clerk; and Ruben Valencia, a sheriff’s deputy who, and talk about a double-edged sword, is endorsed by Avila.

It’s been a hard-fought campaign, maybe nastier than usual (a Valencia mailer compares Ontario to Bell), which is why the name of the first speaker called sent a ripple through the audience: Sarah Wapner.

Wapner’s 17-year-old daughter was there to confront head-on the cruel gossip of a YouTube video that, from a distance, seemed to show a family altercation on a sidewalk and was said to involve Wapner hitting his daughter.

KCBS reported on it with appropriate skepticism, noting that the video was nearly two years old but was only uploaded this month, and that the woman who shot the video has a Valencia sign in her front yard.

Valencia, interviewed for the news report in that yard, said he had nothing to do with the video but that people were asking him questions about it. He also expressed surprise at the campaign sign in the yard.

(Valencia, highly sensitive to the public’s right to know, had also messaged me on Facebook with a link to the YouTube video.)

In her remarks Tuesday, Sarah said she was “a victim of bullying and self-harm” who had been fighting the urge to end her own life; in the video, “my father was only holding me down to prevent me from running into traffic.”

She said the video has affected her at school and will shadow her the rest of her life. She denounced Valencia and others for trying to capitalize on a family tragedy for political gain.

It was a powerful moment, heartbreaking and uncomfortable. There in the front row, I was in the perfect place to take her photo at the lectern, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Even though she was speaking in public, it felt like an invasion of privacy, or further victimization.

Most of the next seven speakers, who included Wapner’s wife, Judi, supported the Wapners or denounced the tone of recent council meetings. Their comments received enthusiastic applause.

“Several City Council candidates and a cadre of malcontents have turned these meetings into a three-ring circus, complete with clowns,” complained Sheila Mautz, a former councilwoman.

I don’t know about clowns, but there have been puppets. But not on Tuesday. Avila’s “No More Puppet” campaign slogan must be paying off.

Valencia also spoke during public comment. He denied putting the video on YouTube, objected to Wapner’s “bullying” and said he wasn’t surprised “that to defend himself from his outrageous behavior, he blamed the person who took the video.”

Um, outrageous behavior? Saving his daughter’s life?

“I would like to state publicly that I hope that Mr. Wapner’s family is healthy now,” Valencia added. Gee, thanks.

Valencia then brought up Wapner’s role in publicizing the mayor’s past indiscretions. He ended his remarks by saying: “I have one word for you, Mr. Wapner: karma.”

Wapner, not one to hold his tongue, replied sharply as Valencia left the lectern: “Is that a threat? Is that a threat, Mr. Valencia?”

Leon called a recess to avoid letting the meeting unravel.

The council returned to take care of the business portion of the meeting, which took a mere 15 minutes. It was a pleasant reminder of the days when Ontario council meetings lasted a half hour.

Then, back to the rest of the public comments. That took another hour. Some were supportive of the incumbents — Rita Nelsen complimented council members for being able to “sit there and take it” during tumultuous meetings — while others denounced the Edison towers or aired private gripes.

During the council comments period, Leon took the rare step of speaking first.

“I want to thank the community tonight,” Leon said. “My heart is just elated that people have come out and said, ‘we’ve had enough.’ It’s been a long time coming.”

He said “people’s emotions are running high” due to the election and promised that “it won’t always be like this at our meetings.”

Wapner said that in his 20 years in office, his wife had never felt compelled to speak at a meeting, and that he’d never been prouder of his daughter than for her courage in speaking out.

Avila, who spoke last, said a lot of Wapner supporters had spoken that evening, but that he had no problem with that. As for Sarah’s comments, he said because he had no firsthand knowledge, “I don’t know if it’s true.”

Since 1997, David Allen has been taking up valuable newsprint and pixels at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, where he is a columnist and blogger (insidesocal.com/davidallen). Among his specialties: city council meetings, arts and culture, people, places, local history, dining and a log in a field that resembled the Loch Ness monster. The Illinois native has spent his newspaper career in California, starting in 1987 at the Santa Rosa News-Herald and continuing at the Rohnert Park-Cotati Clarion, Petaluma Argus-Courier and Victor Valley Daily Press. A resident of Claremont who roots for the St. Louis Cardinals and knows far too much about Marvel Comics, the Kinks and Frank Zappa's Inland Valley years, he is the author of two collections of columns: "Pomona A to Z" and "Getting Started."

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